What does Hilton's most well known novel have in common with Isaac Asimov's most famous work, The Foundation Trilogy? The answer is Shangri-La, which is mirrored in Asimov's books by the Foundation. Both serve the same stated purpose -- to preserve knowledge and human accomplishment through a period of barbarism -- but there is one significant difference: while Hilton specifically mentions the preservation of art, music, history, literature, and pure mathematics, he omits science entirely. Asimov's Foundation, by contrast, leaves nothing out; after all, it was formed by scientists. But it wouldn't be quite fair to say that Hilton forgets about science: science, he implies, is a large part of the problem, making possible the ever-increasing destructiveness of war. Asimov sees it differently: science, for him, is a unifying force, capable of bringing our entire species together, even when spread out across an entire galaxy.
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December 2016
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